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Vincenzo
Bellini
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Bellini,
Vincenzo (1801-1835), Italian
composer, born in Catania,
Sicily, and trained at the
Conservatory of Music, Naples.
The premiere of his first opera,
Adelson e Salvini, in 1825,
attracted Domenico Barbaja, the
director of the San Carlo Opera,
Naples, and La Scala, Milan.
Barbaja commissioned Bellini to
compose Bianca e Gernando for San
Carlo in 1826 and Il Pirata for
La Scala in 1827. Both operas
were very successful, as were La
Straniera (The Stranger, 1829)
and I Capuleti ed i Montecchi
(1830).
In
1831 the premieres of two of
Bellini's most famous operas, La
Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) and
his masterpiece, Norma, brought
him international
fame.
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These operas were followed in 1833 by
the less successful Beatrice di Tenda and
in 1835 by his final work, I Puritani.
Bellini was a meticulous craftsman. He
composed for singers who were masters of
bel canto, a singing style stressing vocal
agility and precision. He was highly
sensitive to the relation between text and
music, and his operas gain their greatest
dramatic impact through his melodies,
which are often admired for a
characteristic concentrated
beauty.
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